Leeds decided to pay a club-record fee to sign the 20-year-old forward from Hoffenheim in the winter transfer window.
He has made just six first-team appearances for Leeds thus far and is yet to hit the back of the net for the Whites.
Newsome conceded that Rutter looked good in Leeds’ 2-0 defeat at Fulham on Tuesday night but feels he is still far away from justifying that price tag.
The former White insisted that the forward will have to deal with the pressure of the price tag and indicated that he is not sure Leeds should have spent that kind of money on potential considering the needs of the squad at this stage of the season.
Newsome said on BBC Radio Leeds: “He looked decent but did he look £35m? I don’t think so.
“He looked a lot better than over the last three weeks. Whether that’s because he got a start or he is finding his feet?
“It’s a big price tag around his neck.
“But I just think the position that the football club were in, are you going out spending money on that kind of potential or you going out spending that kind of money on a finished article that’s going to come in and make an impact on their season.”
The 20-year-old forward is still being used as an option from the bench in the Premier League with Patrick Bamford still preferred to lead the line.
